Specific rules applicable to referendums held at the request of a section of the electorate and to popular initiatives

a. Everyone enjoying electoral rights is entitled to sign a popular initiative or request for a referendum.

b. The time-limit for collecting signatures (particularly the day on which the time-limit starts to run and the last day of the time-limit) must be clearly specified, as well as the number of signatures to be collected.

c. It is advisable to require a number of signatures which is sufficiently high to ensure that only questions which are of interest to a substantial part of the electorate will be put to referendum, thereby safeguarding the character of the referendum as complementary to representative democracy. On the other hand, the requirement of a sufficient number of proponents of a referendum should not be so high as to make the possibility of a referendum merely theoretical. Furthermore, this number should be proportional to the number of registered voters.

d. Everyone enjoying electoral rights must be entitled to collect signatures. This right may be extended to other categories of people.

e. If authorisation is required in order to gather signatures for popular initiatives or requests for a referendum on public thoroughfares, such authorisation may be refused only in specific cases provided for by law, on the basis of overriding public interest for public safety and in accordance with the principle of equality.

f. Payment from private sources for the collection of signatures for popular initiatives and requests for referendums should, as a rule, be prohibited. If permitted, it must be regulated, with regard to both the total amount allocated and the amount paid to each person.

g. Signatures must be checked, until it has been established beyond doubt that the number of valid signatures required by law has been collected or there are no more signatures to check.